“Our
goal at the University of Kentucky is to be a top-25
academic heart program in the United States. The
new facility will help unify all components of
cardiovascular medicine, bringing them together
into state-of-the-art cath labs, diagnostic modalities,
new clinics, classrooms and office space. The Gill
Building reflects our commitment to outstanding
progress in cardiology and assures cutting-edge
care to Kentuckians.”

-- Michael
Karpf,
executive vice president for health affairs,
University of Kentucky

In
December 1997, Linda and Jack Gill of Houston,
Texas, donated $5 million to build the heart institute
and establish three endowed chairs and 10 endowed
professorships, all matched by the Research
Challenge Trust Fund, for research and special programs.
The gift is one of the largest individual gifts
ever given to UK.

Additional
funding for the five-story, 108,345-square-foot
facility, came from university funds. Construction
began in April 2000, and the UK Center for Advanced
Surgery was opened for outpatient surgery patients
in February 2004. The UK Gill Heart Institute opened
for patients last week.

“Heart
disease is the leading cause of death in the United
States and Kentucky ranks fifth worst in the nation
in cardiovascular disease deaths,” said UK
President Lee T. Todd Jr., Ph.D. “One of
our major goals at the University of Kentucky is
to address this problem by developing new technologies
that will benefit patients in Kentucky and the
nation. The University of Kentucky extends our
gratitude to the Gills for their personal concern
for, and exemplary commitment to, this important
health initiative.”

While
the concept of the Gill Heart Institute has existed
for several years at UK, its components were widely
dispersed throughout the medical center, and a
central facility was deemed essential. In addition,
UK officials noted an increasing need to accommodate
advanced surgical technologies. The Gill Building
not only will provide the needed space for these
two vital programs, but also will foster collaboration
in patient care, research and teaching.

“Our
goal at the University of Kentucky is to be a top-25
academic heart program in the United States,” said
Michael Karpf, M.D., UK executive vice president
for health affairs. “The new facility will
help unify all components of cardiovascular medicine,
bringing them together into state-of-the-art cath
labs, diagnostic modalities, new clinics, classrooms
and office space. The Gill Building reflects our
commitment to outstanding progress in cardiology
and assures cutting-edge care to Kentuckians.”

Kentucky,
along with its neighboring states along the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, has such a high rate of
heart disease that the area has been designated
the “Coronary Valley.” The clinical
programs of the institute will target this unacceptable
increased mortality. The research and teaching
programs will advance cardiovascular care throughout
the world, and attract grants and investments to
Kentucky.

“Clearly,
many important elements contributing to heart disease
are present in Kentucky,” said Linda Gill. “It
is a tobacco economy. There are generations of
black lung disease from coal mining in Eastern
Kentucky. Add sedentary lifestyles, a depressed
economy, unhealthy nutrition, smoking and obesity,
and you have all the reasons heart disease flourishes
here. Jack and I felt that if somehow we could
create an incentive to build a world class cardiovascular
research, teaching and clinical care institute
here at the University of Kentucky, this would
rally my fellow Kentuckians to address these urgent
needs.”

“The
number of Kentucky residents who die each year
due to heart disease is comparable to every person
dying in an average 100-square miles of the state,” said
David J. Moliterno, M.D., Gill Heart Institute
co-director and professor and chief of cardiovascular
medicine in the UK College of Medicine Department
of Internal Medicine. “At the UK Gill Heart
Institute, our commitment is to provide world-class
care to the Commonwealth, and to do this with the
compassion and sensitivity that we would expect
for our own families.”

“I
see the Gill Heart Institute as a regional resource
that addresses critical health care needs of Kentuckians,” said
Victor A. Ferraris, M.D., Ph.D., Gill Heart Institute
co-director, the Tyler Gill Professor of Vascular
Surgery and Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery in
the UK College of Medicine Department of Surgery. “The
Gill Heart Institute brings together community
health care needs with cutting-edge technology,
research and education. Surgical care provided
at the Gill Heart Institute offers options that
are much needed and are not available anywhere
else in the region.”

Prevention
programs will be initiated in communities where
they are needed, emphasizing patient-focused care
that is humanistic, caring and supportive of the
patient and family members. Additional benefits include
improved communications with referring physicians
to help them become an active part of the institute
with quick, seamless access to all relevant patient
clinical findings, ongoing educational conferences,
and emerging findings from the institute’s
research.

The
institute provides a central focus for cardiovascular
disease care, including clinics; non-invasive cardiac
diagnostics; invasive cardiac techniques, such
as cardiac catheterization, angioplasty and electrophysiology;
and a base for the physicians providing this care.
The institute will have a special focus on counseling
cardiac patients and their families.

The
Center for Advanced Surgery provides cutting-edge
technology in an efficient, cost-effective outpatient
setting. The center includes eight minimally invasive
surgery suites with state-of the-art technology
and equipment. The space is designed to change
as technology changes. Most of the former operating
rooms required major renovation for new technology,
whereas the new suites are designed to accommodate
change with minimal downtime.

A
public open house for the UK Gill Heart Institute
will be held from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April
23.